Goodbye Book 6, hello book 7

Hello!

I hadn’t planned to leave writing this post for so long but time seems to have run away with me whilst finishing Book 6. It’s been a full-on few weeks to make the deadline and I was very happy to send the book to Emily, my editor. I made a few last minute changes to the ending and added an epilogue to Lizzie and Cal’s story. It will be a little while before I receive the edits and I always look forward to Emily’s comments on the manuscript and working through her suggestions together.

My research has been very different and a lot of fun, as I got to meet two gorgeous wolves and walk with them. I spent a weekend in the Duddon Valley in Cumbria, which is utterly breathtaking, visiting a festival and hearing from local climbers about the sport they love. I learned more about photography and took a trip on Lake Windermere on a small yacht. Cal lives in a slightly unusual house and choosing the right location for him was brilliant. The book is also a story about family and finding a place within it. I loved writing Lizzie and Cal’s search to help them understand the past as they look to the future.

These lines are when my characters first see one another after years apart and things can change later on in the edits!

Lizzie was heading for the arch when her peripheral vision caught someone on her left crossing the courtyard. Her awareness exploded into high alert as her head snapped around and she pitched to an unsteady halt. Even in so brief a moment she had seen something familiar in the length of his stride, the way he moved; like a wolf, alert to his surroundings without seeming aware of them.

Her stare leapt to his face; she saw the curve of his jaw her fingers had so often traced, outlined by a short beard now; the tawny hair she remembered cropped very short, lending his face more strength. He, too, jolted to a standstill, and she recognised the sudden tension in his hands, always so gentle, now tightened fists. Her eyes fixed to his and she was too far away to make out if they were brown and knew without taking a single step towards him that they were.

Eyes she knew as intimately as her own; once Lizzie had been able to judge his mood by the elements they had seemed to possess. Fire, ice, fear, desire, love. A time when they’d told her more than his words had. He’d spoken to her in gestures at first; a lingering look, the merest touch, a trusting hand, his lips burning against hers. His eyes, when she’d come to know him completely, had finally revealed all he’d felt with the words he’d then been able to find.

She sensed he could even detect her perfume in those few seconds as all sound was drowned out and the world seemed to have halted on its axis. His gaze went to her hands, and she knew he was searching for something she didn’t wear. Her heart was pounding and movement, words, composure, confidence, all had deserted her.

I hope you enjoy this early glimpse, I’d love to hear what you think! I’m planning Rose’s story in Book 7 now, and have already visited a Cumbrian flower farm, which was so inspiring. Rose is starting over at Halesmere and I’m very much looking forward to seeing how she gets on. I’ve had the ending of her story in my mind for some time, and it’s not one I expect to change.

Until next time, Suzanne x